Nice article, minor comment: In your Table 1 you refer to Economic book value ($3.09) but in the following paragraph "Book Value" you are referring to GAAP book value ($3.35) but not discussing the difference for the reader; the numbers read inconsistent. Perhaps just drop the GAAP figure and stick with the economic book figure for your analysis? Otherwise, good article... I got out of CIM with a small gain + dividends when they couldn't figure out how to report their financials a while back. I'm not a big fan of a company that has trouble with that.

A New 2x ETN From ETRACS Focuses On High Dividends And Low Volatility [View article]

Look At These Juicy Yields - Are They Really Appropriate For Your Retirement Portfolios? [View article]

Aloha Chuck,

Nice article but I have a question: Why did you chose P/E in your analysis of NLY and P/FFO in your analysis of Realty Income? Are they both not REITs? Isn't P/FFO the most appropriate metric for both REITs?

Will The High Premiums For The PIMCO High Income Fund Continue To Erode? [View article]

Aloha Left- I enjoyed the article and also your recent articles about the ETRACS ETNs. I agree with your point of view on the premium for some of these PIMCO funds. If the distributions were growing that would be one thing, but I can't understand such a high premium for a brand name. I'd like to see PHK and PTY (which actually did increase distributions in '11 or '12) come down a little bit more before adding to CEFL; IMHO it's the premium in PHK that tanked CEFL the past few days. Keep up the good work.

My High Dividend Yield Retirement Portfolio Delivers 8.8% Of Income For This Retiree [View article]

Most people follow the "don't put all your eggs in one basket" mantra (above comments echo that), few follow "keep only your best eggs and guard that basket with your life". The argument for the former is diversification; the argument for the latter is to stay within your core competence and focus your efforts. Typically the "guard the basket with your life" approach is reserved for business owners, entrepreneurs, and real estate developers that actually have control over the business decisions and hands on management of the business. I say good luck to you sir and I will follow with interest.

Adam... I don't comment much anymore, but great article. This passage hit home for me:

"Therefore, when he states, "there doesn't appear to be any advantages to a strategy of investing in dividend-paying stocks," I think he misses the point of what a dividend payment represents and why some investors are highly attuned to receiving them."

I look at it this way, at some point when the dividend payments grow (however you choose to grow them) beyond your needs to support your way of life, you've reached the finish line in the rat race and trading your time for income becomes optional. Dividend payments can be actual dividends paid from stocks, or it could be a portion of rent you collect that you pay to yourself, whatever you want to call it, passive income. Some people are more interested in creating and growing passive income from investments than trying to eek out every last % of total return. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.